HORNS
By Hydraa
This is part of a series. Read in order, they go (so far):
To Find the Watch
Demons
Horns
Reviews are always appreciated. Enjoy the story.
---000---
Chapter 1
Rosette peered at herself in the battered mirror, leaning over the chipped sink so she could see her wrinkled up nose clearly. Her blue eyes were clear and annoyed above it, framed by her golden hair. She had the sides tied in her usual pigtails and reached up with both hands, not touching the pigtails themselves but pressing cautiously down on the two little horns that jutted out from her temples, just above her ears. They were about an inch long and faintly coloured mother of pearl. They were also just long enough to stick out through her hair if she wore it the way she liked. Her expression twisted further. Were her ears getting pointed?
"Chrno!" she shouted. "I'm not going to get weird looking ears too, am I?"
She heard movement in the other room, her partner and more recent lover shifting on the bed. "For all I know, you're going to end up with four tails and a barbed spine," he told her. He sounded tired.
Rosette didn't really care. "What?" she shrilled. "Are you joking??" There was a noncommittal grunt. "Chrno! You better be joking!"
She stormed into the other room, which happened to be the only other room in the tiny little boarding house they'd found. It had peeling wallpaper over a carpet so old she didn't want to touch it with bare feet, a single broken chair, and a bed that had long outlived its normal usefulness.
A twelve year old boy lay on it, his head pillowed on a rolled up coat. His ears were blindingly obvious, pointed and sticking out through either side of his lavender coloured hair. Slitted red eyes looked up at her sleepily, even though it was the middle of the day.
Rosette blinked at him, her hands on her hips. "What are you doing in that form?"
He shrugged. "I'm tired."
Rosette's temper cooled. He shouldn't have been tired yet, she didn't think. She didn't really know for sure how this all worked though. Chrno had turned her into a demon to save her life, and the thought of how he managed that still made her blush, but he still needed an outside source of energy himself. Since her human life force was expended now, he'd die without receiving astral from her.
"But I gave you some this morning," she protested.
He shrugged again. "I guess not enough. Sorry," he mumbled.
Her eyes narrowed. "Well, change form first. You freak me out like that."
Faintly, the demon smiled and shifted, his body elongating to become that of a twenty year old man. Some day, Rosette was going to ask how he managed to get his clothes to change as well when he did that, but for now she walked over to the bed, climbing onto it and sliding her body up next to his. He wrapped his arms around her and lifted his face up to hers.
Rosette kissed him. There was a lot of actual kiss in there, but at the same time she breathed astral into him, exhaling life itself into his mouth.
It felt weird, draining but sensual and incredibly intimate. Rosette felt his hands tangle into her hair while her own pushed into his. It was shorter this way than when he looked like a boy, but still reached to his waist. It had to be long enough as there was no way she was going to do this when he looked like a twelve-year-old. She wasn't Satella.
Together, they lay there, her breathing into him, he accepting it. Rosette let him take what he needed, curbing her impatience this time, and Chrno took far more than he had that morning, when she'd been more interested in bagels, despite his assertion she didn't need to eat. She felt the astral pour out of her until her horns started to burn, struggling to replenish her levels, and still he drew more. Finally, she was forced to slide a hand over his mouth to break the connection. Chrno blinked at her over it, his expression comical.
"No more," she whispered and moved the hand away so she could kiss him again more gently.
"Sorry," he replied. He looked much better though, his eyes clear and rounder, the slit easing back into an ellipse. He kept his arms around her, his eyebrow lifting suggestively. "How are your legions doing?"
Rosette made a face. Breathing in her astral made him randy and she wasn't always in the mood, even if he did have to replenish her legions sometimes. She wasn't a true demon, even with the horns. They had a symbiotic relationship. He would die without her astral, she would die without his legions. Good thing they got along.
She bonked him on the head and sat up, squirming out of his grasp. "Behave yourself or I'll beat you." She sat on the edge of the bed and frowned. "How come you need so much of my astral?" Her horns were itching, a sure sign she was drained, even if she didn't really feel all that tired yet.
He shrugged and sat up. "Your horns are kind of small. Mine were a foot long."
Her eyes narrowed. "What does that mean? That I'm inferior?"
He blanched. "Ah, no! Of course not! You're just…"
"Less powerful?" she finished, getting pissed.
Sensing there was no way he was going to win this one, Chrno bounced up and jumped for the door. "I'll go get the paper," he told her and ran out.
Rosette sighed, stood up, and went back into the bathroom to see if her ears had grown any bigger yet.
---000---
Chrno hurried along the trash filled corridor and made his way down the tattered stairs to the back door of the boarding house. It let out onto an alley and he looked both ways quickly before he headed for the street.
It wasn't Rosette's fault, but she was less powerful. The length and number of a demon's horns dictated their power levels. He had been one of the most powerful demons in all of Pandemonium. With those adorable little nubs of hers, even if she'd been accepted as a non-demon, Rosette would have barely been tolerated as a servant.
Not that he could see her taking orders from anyone.
Still, Rosette could gather enough astral to keep herself alive and to feed him as well. He couldn't stay in full demon form for terribly long, though longer than the watch had allowed, and he couldn't use his full powers without running out of power in a hurry, but he could stay as a man most of the time. That was preferable to him. The child form had been good for him, had been a way for him to heal and to learn to like himself again, but it was still a child. He wanted to be a man with Rosette now and she wasn't terribly interested in children. The fewer reminders she got of that the better. If he had his way, he'd never take his hands off her, but he was addicted to her. She was his Contractor, or was his Contractor, but she certainly was his liege and always would be.
Rosette was pissed because her horn length gave her lower status among demons. He smirked, wondering if he dared tell her that, with Chrno the Sinner and killer of a thousand demons beholden to her, she probably had a higher status than any demon but Pandemonium.
Chrno strode down the sidewalk, walking towards the nearby market. It wasn't much of one; they were in a poor neighbourhood of New York, but it was better than nothing and the best they could afford. The money Satella gave them wouldn't last forever and they didn't know yet where to go. Without the Order's contacts, their search for Joshua was severely hampered, but it was hardly like they could go back. He'd certainly be killed outright, and thanks to Oaths he'd been forced to take, he couldn't even fight back against them, not without Rosette, and they'd kill her as well in the attempt to save her soul.
Chrno sighed and crossed the street towards the market. He wanted to get back to Rosette, wanted to do all sorts of things with her that the nuns of the Order would be wholly against, but she needed to calm down first. His horns were gone, but he still had fragments of them left in his skull, protected under ceramic covers, and he could feel her with them. Just barely and only because she was so much a part of him, but he could tell she was still angry.
He'd know when it was safe to go back.
---000---
"There he is. Did he see us?"
"Negative."
"Do we take him?"
"The other team will. Our orders are to go after the Sister. She's our primary target."
"Hm. Think she's still salvageable?"
"Sister Kate prays so."
"Then let's go get her."
---000---
Her ears were definitely pointed. Maybe. Were they? Rosette turned her head to one side, trying to see them more clearly and puffed out a breath, giving up. It's not like she wanted them to get pointed.
Bored, she wandered back into the other room, wondering when Chrno was going to get back. She was starting to feel tired from his drain and threw herself down on the bed. A minute later, she was snoring.
---000---
Chrno stood at a newspaper stand, reading the front page of a newspaper. There was a depression looming, it said. He could believe it. He was standing in the middle of one after all.
"You gonna pay for that?" the newsstand owner groused. Silently, Chrno handed him a nickel, trying to ignore how the man stared at his ears. They weren't his fault. No demon alive could handle a perfect transformation. There was always something giving them away, usually the ears for some reason, but most humans didn't know that. The newsstand owner didn't go any further than staring at him suspiciously.
Chrno wandered away before he could start asking questions, still reading the article. Children played around him, rolling hoops while housewives did their shopping. A lot of them looked at him, at his long body and fine features, but Chrno wasn't interested. Not in any ordinary woman. Even if he had been, Rosette didn't have to worry about him straying. She was the only one he'd ever heard of in the entire history of demonkind with a delicate enough touch to make love to him without ripping his soul apart.
Not that he would normally use the word 'delicate' with her, he smirked.
Around him, children shouted and laughed, car engines sounded, and men and women called out to each other. Chrno strolled through the middle of it, turning the paper to the middle. There was something about demonic activity sighted in San Francisco, he saw with interest, something about twisted bodies found on a beach, and he glanced at the opposite page to see a missing child's photo. He stopped, shocked.
Azmaria??
Boots appeared below the edge of the paper, right in front of him.
"By the command of the Holy Order of Magdalena," he heard before he could react. "Sleep."
Chrno's knees buckled. Immediately, two men stepped in on either side of him, grabbing his arms and holding him up as they hurried him quickly away from the crowd and down a side alley to where a van waited.
Chrno struggled to breathe, to stay conscious, but his vision was fogging away on him and all his strength was pouring out of his body. He fought it desperately, but only Rosette could break the Order's spell on him. He couldn't even struggle as they lifted him into the van and climbed in with him.
"R-" he tried, desperate to call her name. "R-" He couldn't get the word out and fell onto his back.
A man knelt over him , face framed in the narrowing eyehole of the demon's vision, and he shuddered as he recognized Father Remington. "I'm sorry, Chrno," the priest apologized. "I really am."
Chrno relaxed, unconscious before they put the blindfold and the warded ropes on him.
The van drove away, headed back towards the Order.
---000---
Author's note: When I first came up with the idea that Chrno had sworn specific Oaths to the Order when he first arrived, I thought it was an interesting little plot device. I did NOT realise how badly Chrno had pooched himself by doing it. I was originally imagining some huge, dramatic battle which the Sinner of course would be able to win, or at least escape from. But nope, the Order isn't made up of idiots. All they have to do is walk up and say the right words while he's distracted. Battle over.
Sorry, Chrno.
Chapter 2
With a yawn, Rosette rolled over and looked up. "Chrno?" There was no answer and she stretched luxuriously, wondering how long she'd been dozing.
A sound came from outside the room, so soft that she never would have heard it before she became a demon, and she grabbed at her ears to see if they were bigger.
Someone outside took a very quiet step and she heard a gun cocked with painful slowness, as if whoever was doing it didn't want to be overheard.
:Oh, applesauce," she muttered, diving under her bed. They didn't have many weapons, but she'd managed to get a few guns off Satella, even if they were only loaded with normal bullets. Then again, she wouldn't need Sacreds and Gospels to deal with anyone who'd come after her with a gun.
Not trying to be quiet, since it was obvious they knew she was in there, she grabbed a pair of handguns and swung towards the door. "Back off!" she shouted and fired a few rounds through it, just to get their attention. They blew holes in the thin wood and she saw blue uniformed men scrambling for cover. She grinned and headed for the window before they could finish closing their cordon.
She and Chrno were staying on the second floor, the window of their room overlooking a dumpster. It kind of reeked on hot days, but right now, it made the drop a lot shorter as she crashed through the window and landed on the lid, jumping down and running for the street. Startled members of the Magdalena Order, not ready for her to make a break for it yet, shouted and tried to cut her off. She sprinted past them, laughing.
"You won't catch me!" she laughed, bolting into the crowds. They swirled around her, confused by the sudden appearance of the Magdalena militia, but Rosette dodged through them easily, laughing. If Sister Kate thought she was going to be that easy to catch, she was drinking too much tea. Rosette had been the best of the militia, no matter what anyone else said.
Pursued by half a dozen men and women, she sprinted across the road, dodging vehicles, and raced down a side street that led to a dozen different alleys. It was easy to outrun them. "Rosette Christopher," she breathed. "With the power of super speed." Giggling, she rounded a moving van and bolted down another street, never looking back. The militia was nowhere close to catching her.
---000---
Sister Kate walked stiffly out of the administration building at the Order as the van pulled up. She'd just got off the phone with the head of her primary militia team, who had utterly failed in their mission to capture Sister Rosette Christopher. She'd made fools out of them, though Kate couldn't say she was surprised. Rosette had always been good at making idiots out her opponents.
At least the mission hadn't been a complete failure. Kate stepped up to the side of the van, two heavily armed militia guards flanking her. The driver came around from the front and unlocked the doors.
Father Remington jumped down, his face haunted. He didn't like what they were doing, but he had no choice. Much as he disagreed with some of Kate's viewpoints, his oaths to the order required him to obey his superiors. Kate used to let him question that, but no more. Chrno the Sinner was classified as an enemy of the Order, of all humanity. By kidnapping and raping Rosette Christopher, he'd lost any consideration he might have once had, and by helping him do it, Father Ewan Remington had strayed dangerously close to being excommunicated and executed. It had taken all of Kate's influence to save him, but now he had to obey her in this utterly, or both their superiors would be forced to eliminate him.
Kate missed the arguments she used to have with him though.
"Are you all right?" she asked softly.
He looked away. "As well as can be expected," he said. He'd taken the Sinner without harming him though. Kate had been able to allow him that much.
Remington stepped out of the way and the other militia pulled a gurney out of the back of the van. Chrno lay on it, bound heavily by blessed ropes and blindfolded. He was still asleep, thanks to the Oaths he'd sworn when he first came to the Order. Kate could do more than just make him sleep; she could make him die, but Remington would never forgive himself for that.
"Bring him," she said instead. Remington at her side, she followed the gurney into the church, none of them taking any chances with the demon. He'd been too resourceful in the past. Chrno didn't move though and Kate studied his face as they walked.
Part of her wanted to shake him awake, to demand that he give Rosette back, to tell her where Azmaria vanished to, to explain why he did what he did, but she knew there was no point. He took Rosette because he thought he was doing the right thing and he didn't have anything to do with Azmaria. He wouldn't be any help in finding her. Kate sighed and Remington looked at her.
"I feel like screaming at him like some kind of schoolmarm," she admitted. "But I'd never be able to convince him. I'd probably only give him the opportunity to escape."
"What are you going to do?" he asked after a moment.
"What I promised him." They stepped into a large elevator and went down, deep under the church and below the training maze and the regular demonic holding cells. When the doors opened, it was onto a stone corridor dripping with moisture, divine writing inscribed deep into the walls and the floor. The corridor had no doors in it until the end, where a barrier of solid blue crystal stood, glowing dimly in the darkness. They pushed the gurney to the door, where Kate opened it with a golden key.
Inside, the walls, if there were any, were hidden in a glowing mist. Distantly, Kate could see huddled shapes in there, the forms of demons too dangerous to ever risk in a standard cell. Kate crossed herself and took a massive, heavy amulet out of her pocket, putting it on over her head. "Take him off the gurney," she ordered. The men did, all of them careful not to pass the threshold at all. They laid Chrno down and stepped back. Kate took their place, standing above his head and bending down. Grasping him under the armpits, she began to drag him backwards into the cell.
It wasn't easy. He was heavy and she had to do it alone. Without the amulet on, no one could step into the room without being frozen in time. It reminded her of the orphanage where Rosette grew up, now frozen in the horrible moment when Joshua went mad, but it served its purpose. Chrno wouldn't be able to escape. Kate dragged him fully into the room and as far from the door as she dared. She could still see it though, gleaming through the mist, when she set him back down.
"I promised you peace, Sinner," she told him. "Only God knows if you deserve it, but Rosette does. We will bring her home." She brushed a strand of hair out of his face and stood, heading back to the door. Once through, she shuddered and pulled the amulet off again. "Close the door." They did, Remington staring through the shrinking opening the entire time. Kate didn't look back, not wanting to see him. She had to look forward now, to save the girls who needed her.
"Remington," she called, turning to the finest of her militia. "I'm afraid I have another mission for you."
---000---
When Chrno and Rosette moved into the boarding house, they picked a little diner twenty blocks away to be their rendezvous location in case they were attacked and separated. Rosette reached it an hour after she fled the boarding house, after taking a round about route to make sure no one was following her.
"Chrno," she called as she ran in, expecting him to have reached it before her. Then she stopped. Except for an old man reading a paper and the waitress, there was no one there. "Jeez… what's taking him so long?" She threw herself into one of the booths, muttering under her breath.
Twenty minutes later, she was on her third cup of coffee and getting really worried. There was no sign of Chrno at all. That didn't make any sense. He was big, he was immensely powerful, he was freshly full of her astral…
He was completely vulnerable to anyone in the Order commanding him to do something stupid.
"Crap!" Rosette dove out of the booth and ran for the pay phone at the back of the diner. Shoving a penny in, she called Sister Kate's number.
"Magdalena Order. Sister Kate speaking."
Rosette exhaled, trying to think of some diplomatic way to ask the question of the woman who wanted her boyfriend dead.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
"Where is he?" Rosette grated.
There was a startled silence. "Rosette?"
She leaned against the wall, looking around to make sure no one was listening in. "You know it's me. Where's Chrno?"
"Rosette, where are you?"
"WHERE IS HE?" she screamed. The other people in the diner stared at her. Rosette gave an embarrassed laugh and turned her back on them. "Where is he?"
There was another pause. "He's gone, Rosette. Please, come home."
Rosette's entire world fell out from under her. He was gone? "What do you mean, gone?" she asked, not sure if she was whispering or screaming. "What did you do to him?"
"You have to come back, Rosette. It's not too late to save you."
"Oh, it's too late," she snarled. "It'll be way too late when I rip your head off and feed you your own eyeballs!" She slammed the receiver down hard enough to break the cradle and darted for the washroom. Locking the door behind her, she started to sob.
---000---
Kate set the phone down slowly, troubled. Poor Rosette. Reaching across her desk for a bell, she rang it lightly and a nun stepped into the room and bowed.
"A phone call came to my line. Contact the switchboard and get back to me with the address it came from. Be quick." The nun bowed again and went out the door.
Kate waited, wondering if Rosette would call back. Probably not. She'd handled that badly, but she never knew what to say to the girl. Chrno had indeed saved her life by making her into a demon, but there was so much that was more important.
With Chrno out of the way, she might still be saved. Kate had done a lot of research after the demon took her and was gratified to learn that without his constant taint, she would regain her humanity. Women who had been raped by demons in the past, the few who hadn't had their minds destroyed completely in the process; when they were saved, they eventually became human again when the legions in them died off. Chrno had to keep replenishing them within Rosette to keep her with him, and hopefully neither of them realized that. Kate thought again of that horrible moment when she'd broken into the warehouse with her men, to see that demon mounted on Rosette, screaming out his triumph, and pressed her eyes shut. That nightmare would stay with her the rest of her life. So would the image of him standing nude before Kate herself, daring her to be tempted by his body. It had been tempting, more than she would admit anywhere outside confession, but she had resisted. She would keep resisting, and once she found Rosette, she'd help her to resist as well.
There was a tap at the door and the nun came back in. "We have the address, Sister," she said.
"Excellent. Contact Father Remington and relay the information to him. He'll do the rest." If there was anyone who could bring Rosette back unharmed, it was him.
---000---
Remington reached the diner a half an hour later and walked in alone, ignoring the diners who stared at him in his blue uniform with the huge gold cross on the front. He looked around for a moment and then turned to the waitress.
"Was a blonde girl here?" he asked.
"In the bathroom," she pointed.
Remington nodded and went over to it. Once he was close, he could hear the hysterical wailing on the other side and knocked on the door.
"Rosette? It's Father Remington. Can I come in?"
There was silence and then he heard someone moving inside. Footsteps sounded and the door unlatched. Rosette pulled it open a crack and peered out at him. Her face was red, her eyes bloodshot, and she had very distinct horns poking up through her mussed hair.
"Is Chrno dead?" she asked.
"No," he told her softly and she immediately fell through the door into his arms, weeping. "He's asleep," he told her.
"That damn spell," she growled.
"That damn spell," he agreed. "We took him at the market. He wasn't hurt."
She glared at him. "I should be happy about that?"
"You should be happy a sniper didn't put a Sacred through his head," he told her. "We had your place staked out for two days." She bit her lip. "We'll all worried about you though."
"I don't care." She pulled back. "Where is he?"
"I can't tell you, Rosette." He smiled at her look. "You're a smart girl. I think you can guess." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully and he put a hand on her shoulder. "I've been instructed to take you back to the Order."
"Huh? Since when do you follow orders?"
"Since I was given no choice." His smile faded. "You have to come with me, Rosette. I'll be in huge trouble if I don't bring you in."
"Really." Her fist shot out, slamming into his stomach. Remington doubled over, gasping.
"God, Rosette," he managed. "You've gotten stronger."
"Yeah. You still have your keys on you?"
"Yes. Left pocket." He coughed and looked at her. "Make it good."
"Thank you, Father," she whispered. Ten seconds later, Remington's body crashed through the front window of the diner and skidded onto the road bonelessly. Startled militia sent to back him up raced to his side, but he was unconscious. They hurried back into the diner then, regrouping, but the girl was gone.
---000---
"Is he all right?" Kate asked worriedly into the phone. She listened to the answer and breathed a sigh of relief. "Take him to the hospital and let me know if there's any change in his condition. Yes. Thank you."
She hung up and rubbed her temples. Remington had underestimated Rosette. No, she'd underestimated the girl. So long as she was in thrall to Chrno, even with him removed, they couldn't trust her at all. They'd have to assume she was as dangerous as any demon, which of course made it harder since they couldn't hurt her. She should have understood that sooner, and made sure that Remington understood it. She'd never forgive herself if he didn't recover.
Kate headed for the door, ready to take a more immediately active part in this mission, before anyone else got hurt.
---000---
Trying to look inconspicuous, and failing rather miserably at it, Rosette crept around the back of Satella Havenheit's apartment building, past the militia left to watch it, now knocked out and tied up, looking for a way in. The doors were all locked though and she didn't dare go through the front entrance. They all knew that the Order was watching Satella, which was why they hadn't gone to her before. And why she and Chrno were living in a dump, Rosette groused. Satella hadn't exactly been carrying a lot of cash the last time she saved them.
Still, she couldn't think where else to go. She needed help to get Chrno back. At least she knew where he was now, and had Remington's keys to get in. He'd told her she could figure out where on the grounds Chrono was. That part was obvious.
Kate herself told her she'd planned to lock Chrno in a cell outside time once Rosette died. She'd heard rumours about that cell. It was in the deepest part of the Order, accessible only by elevator, and Kate kept the amulet that would let anyone enter the cell in her office.
Rosette smirked. She had the keys. Now she just had to figure out how to get onto holy ground ensorcelled to keep her weak and alert people to her presence, break into a building guarded by dozens of armed troops, and sneak out a demon held in a high security prison who fell asleep every time Kate told him to.
"Crap," she muttered. The back door used to take out the garbage was locked. Rosette tugged on it irritably and then lost her temper and really heaved on the thing. The entire door came off its hinges with a loud shriek of torn metal. The girl gaped at it, grinned, and slipped inside, putting it back in the doorway like it belonged. "Thank you, Chrno," she giggled, hurrying down the hall.
There were militia sitting in the lobby, so she took the stairs, running up them two at the time. By the time she got to the tenth floor, she was walking. By the twentieth, she was panting. By the thirtieth, she planned to kill Satella instead of asking for her help.
Finally, she got to the penthouse floor, gasping and pouring sweat. Wheezing, the girl threw the door to the stairwell open and gaped at the four militia standing outside Satella's front door. They stared right back at her, just as surprised.
Rosette recovered first. Shrieking at the top of her lungs, she charged the four of them, firing rounds over their heads into Satella's Waterhouse oil. They ducked and she kicked the first man solidly in the groin before cracking his partner across the jaw with the butt of her gun. A nun who'd surpassed her in theory class grabbed her arm and Rosette threw her rather harder than she'd perhaps had to across the foyer and into the antique Dutch settee, which saved her back from breaking by turning into splinters. The last nun gaped at Rosette.
"But we're on your side!" she protested.
"Yeah?? And you keep stealing all the pudding on Saturday!" Rosette kicked her in the head and stood there panting, glowering at them.
"Tell me you didn't come wanting more money," Satella said from the door.
Rosette glared at her and visibly forced herself to calm down. She wouldn't do Chrno any good if she got into a screaming match with Satella.
"I need your help," she told the older girl. "Sister Kate captured Chrno."
"How? She walk in on you two having sex again?"
Patience. Rosette tried to remember patience. "No. They caught him at the market. It's a long story. Will you help me?"
Satella sighed. "I don't know how much help I can be. I can't even go to the bathroom anymore without someone in blue holding the door for me. But you'd better come in and tell me the details. I'll have Steiner make tea and tally the cost of all that art and furniture you just broke. You'll have to rent Chrno to a male strip club to pay me back."
Rosette ground her teeth together and followed her into the apartment.
---000---
(Author's note: I like Remington, I really do. I actually like Sister Kate as well, and I'm trying very hard to write her as a character who is true to her beliefs. Kate means well, but of course everyone knows what they say about the road to Hell.)
Best part of this chapter is, I have actually managed to figure out how I'm going to resolve this story while remaining internally consistent to all those friggin' hurdles I put in my way in past stories without realising it.
Worst part is, I just got the urge to write that male strip club scene. Crap… Anybody wanna see a one-shot? ;D
Chapter 3
Dressed in a dark green skirt, boots, and a leather jacket, Rosette stood on the sidewalk across from the main entrance to the Order's grounds. It still felt strange to not be wearing gold and blue, and definitely odd to not have the headdress on, but she couldn't consider herself a nun anymore. Not with demon legions inside her.
To herself, she didn't feel tainted. It was Chrno who made her this way and to reject it would be to reject him. Besides, she didn't feel much different than she had before anyway, though she was really starting to grasp that there were changes, even beyond the appearance of the horns. She was definitely stronger now, and faster. Chrno in his child form hadn't been, though he did tote a two hundred pound weapons box like it was nothing, but he had been sealed. There was nothing holding her back, as long as her legions didn't run out. She wasn't sure how long they would last. Chrno hadn't exactly given her the opportunity to let them get weak.
Rosette rolled her eyes and lowered her hands to her belt. It wasn't the one from her old uniform, but it was close and she was loaded with as much ammunition and weapons as Satella had and she could carry.
Seeing as she was planning a full, frontal assault, she wanted to be prepared.
Rosette started towards the gate, just as a familiar jalopy drove up beside her, headed the same way. It slowed down beside her and she looked through the window at Sisters Mary, Anne, and Claire. All three nuns gaped at her.
"Um," Rosette said. "You might want to run."
They looked at each other. "Why?" Mary asked uncertainly.
Rosette drew one of the guns and grinned at her. "Because it's about to get ugly."
---000---
Sister Kate's head shot up at the boom of what sounded like a hand grenade. Spinning in her chair, she looked out the window to see the main gate covered in smoke. A moment later, the ring on her smallest finger started to glow, showing a demonic presence. It tugged towards the gate and she gasped as a small, blonde figure ran onto the ground through the smoke, firing wildly and yelling at the top of her lungs.
"Oh God," she groaned.
---000---
In a way, it was really good to be attacking the place that made her pray every day, do chores, and held her back from really searching for her brother. Rosette felt herself weaken on the grounds, but she was still as strong as she was used to as a human as she fired a full clip into the fountain she'd been forced so many times to dredge, and at the flowerbeds she'd always hated to weed.
"I WANT CHRNO!" she screamed. "GIVE HIM BACK OR ELSE!" She couldn't really think of a better threat, since she didn't actually plan to kill anyone, but she did want them to take her seriously. All the frustration of a long day, preceded by a longer week of being hunted by her supposed friends, came out of her in a rush. She emptied her guns at the buildings, screaming, and shoved one empty weapon back into its holster before pulling out a full clip to reload the other.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RIGHT! IT'S MY GODDAMNED LIFE AND I'M NOT GOING TO DIE FOR YOU PEOPLE!"
All the rage came out and as militia charged around the buildings at her, she fired into the ground before them, forcing them to scatter before retreating back towards the gate before they could return fire.
She saw Sister Kate then, hurrying out of the admin building to join her troops. Rosette screamed in frustration, putting a round in the wall next to her head. Kate ducked and scrambled for cover while Rosette started to sob, slamming in a new clip.
"I JUST WANT CHRNO! WHY CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND THAT??"
She saw Kate glaring at her from the cover of a half wall and put another bullet into the stone near her before firing at the militia, getting as close as she could without hitting any of them. She wanted to though, oh how she was starting to want to.
"I WANT CHRNO NOW!!"
---000---
Gracefully, Satella hoisted herself up to the top of the wall and swung a leg over. She couldn't see Rosette from where she'd circled around to, but she could definitely hear her.
"Well, she's pissed," the witch chuckled and let herself drop down. Thanks to Rosette's little attack, the back wall of the Order was completely abandoned. Just to be safe though, Satella wore a nun's habit and robes. She doubted any of the nuns had her chest size, but it might hold up to a casual look.
Quickly, since she didn't expect the girl to be able to hold out forever, she ran across the grass to the back of the admin building. In her hand, she carried Remington's keys, each of which was inscribed conveniently with the identity of the room it unlocked. She got into the admin building first and hurried to Sister Kate's office, following the rather crude map Rosette had drawn for her. There were non-combatants hiding inside the rooms, but none of them were inclined to even look at her, let alone try to stop her as she passed.
Kate's office wasn't even locked. Satella swept in and closed the door behind her. It was large, but the furniture was only functional without being opulent. She sniffed and went to the cupboard Rosette had told her about. She had it unlocked a minute later and smirked as she pulled out the amulet, sitting in a bowl in the centre. Kate had a lot of trust in her own people to not keep it a better secret. Then again, she hadn't expected any of her own troops to betray her.
Another explosion sounded outside, another of the grenades going off. Satella tried to remember if she'd given Rosette five or six of them as she glanced out the window. The blonde was sprinting back to the gate, pursued by the militia. She'd have a better chance of holding them off outside the grounds, where she wasn't hampered. Satella didn't really care. She figured Rosette could hold her own no matter where she was, demonic powers or not.
Still, it was better not to waste any of the distraction. Normally, Satella wouldn't have been so keen to take on an entire religious order and commit both breaking and entering and theft against them, but the Order had made her life rather uncomfortable of late. In her mind, this was just payback for the inconvenience. Besides, Chrno was cute.
The amulet in hand, Satella ran back out of the office and down the hall to a side door. This was one of the riskier parts. She'd be exposed heading to the church. If Kate saw her, she might realize what was up.
"BITCH!" she heard Rosette screaming from outside. "SEXLESS OLD CUNT!"
Right, like she'd notice anything but that, Satella thought.
---000---
"Surround her," Kate growled. "Hem her in. Use the holy water to cut off her escape. Do not use Sacreds or Gospels. Try to catch her in the nets."
"Yes, Sister," her people replied, moving out, trying to get close enough to the possessed girl to throw the warded nets over her. She was off the grounds now though, on the road before the wall she'd blown holes in with her grenades. As Kate watched, she threw down a gun and grabbed a car that had been parked there. Hefting it over her head with a shriek, she threw it thirty feet at the militia.
"Dear God," Kate breathed. She'd never imagined Chrno would have made her so strong. Still, how long could she keep it up?
"Keep her fighting!" she ordered. "Force her to use up her legions! Then we'll have her!" Especially if she had a target. Sister Kate stepped out from behind the wall, praying that Rosette would take the bait and exhaust herself trying to get her revenge.
---000---
Asking Satella to go into the Order after Chrno while everything in her demanded she do it herself had been the hardest choice Rosette ever made. To owe that witch anything… she had no choice. She would never make it to Chrno herself. Rosette hated that truth, but she had to face it. The best she could do was in providing a distraction for her, and if she was going to play second fiddle, she was damned well going to play it loud.
"CATCH!" she screamed, throwing a chunk of wall at a trio of militia with a large net. It landed right in the middle of the net as they scattered. "HAH!" She'd ripped out half her fingernails getting it out of the wall, but it was worth it to see the expressions on their faces. Standing just off the grounds, she flung another of her grenades and cheered as it took out the fountain.
Her horns were starting to burn though and she knew she didn't have much time left. Adrenaline had her though, and rage. These holy people took Chrno without giving him any chance to defend himself. They slapped wards and spells on him that made him helpless against them, and he'd let them do it in order to be with her. Worse, he never told her. Rosette screamed, firing her weapons until she realised they were clicking on empty and she was out of spare clips. Then she threw them, imbedding one in the side of the church and flinging the other right through the stained glass above the doors.
"Sister Rosette."
Wild-eyed, Rosette looked to her left to see Sister Kate standing among the ruins and the smoke, her hands folded in her habit.
"I forgive you," she said.
Rosette stared at her. "What?"
"I forgive you, Sister Rosette."
Rosette gaped at her, stunned wordless. She forgave her?? Her face twisted. "I DON'T WANT YOUR FORGIVENESS!" she yelled and charged onto the grounds, her horns screaming in pain.
---000---
Satella wrenched open the rectory door on the church and ran down the rear corridor, headed for the elevator Rosette promised her. It was unguarded, the grey steel locked down. She pushed her key into the lock and turned it. A moment later, the doors opened and she ran inside, letting them close behind her. The church shook and she started cursing as she put in the key for the lowest prison floor. Rosette was going to owe her massively for this one. Maybe enough for a night with Chrno in his child form? She doubted it.
The elevator opened again, showing a damp corridor with only one door at the end. Satella hurried to it and searched for the key. It was small and golden, inscribed with a cross, and the smallest key on the ring.
The room it opened was full of mist and so cold that she shivered, staring at it. There was something inherently wrong about that room and she put the amulet around her neck with a prayer of her own that it would work. She could see shapes in there, inhuman forms, and she didn't know which one was Chrno.
Satella stepped into the room. It was cool, but with the amulet on, it didn't feel any worse than that. Her instincts told her to get out of there fast though and she hurried forward to the first shape, careful to never lose track of the door.
The shape was a demon, a twisted, nightmarish thing that made her blanch. Satella left it and went to the next. More human but still evil looking.
She found Chrno next. He lay stretched full length on his back, his body wrapped in white, glowing rope and his hands tied together before him. He was blindfolded as well, the black cloth embroidered by white symbols.
Satella stared at him. He wasn't moving at all. In fact, a corpse would have more movement. Even his hair didn't shift as she knelt beside him. Locked outside of time, Rosette had said. Satella shook her head and grabbed him by the rope tied around his ankles, slowly dragging him out of the room.
It took a while. He was heavy and the ropes created friction on the ground that made it harder. Satella finally got him out though and shut the door, not wanting to see any more of that place. "Chrno?" she called, slapping his face lightly. There was no response and she sighed.
"WAKE UP!" she screamed and belted him.
Chrno gasped, sitting up. "Rosette??"
"Not quite," she laughed and started to untie him.
A minute later, Chrno sat on the floor, staring up at her in confusion. "Satella? What's going on?"
"You were caught by the Order," Satella told him. "I just dragged you out of some bizarre cell, and believe me, my bill for services rendered is going to be steep."
He blinked. "Where's Rosette?"
She stood. "Holding off the cavalry. Come on." She held out a hand and hauled him up to his feet. He still looked dazed, but what she'd said was sinking in.
"We have to help Rosette," he told her, hurrying at her side for the elevator.
"Great. So turn into that winged demon thing. That should get their attention."
He looked at her apologetically. "I can't. I can't change shape on holy ground. It was one of the Oaths they made me take."
"Well, that was dumb," she groused. "Oh! That reminds me!"
---000---
Outraged beyond coherent thought, Rosette ran at Sister Kate. She was out of ammo and grenades and the holy ground drained her strength, but she was going to punch that woman's teeth down her throat. Kate watched her approach, then grabbed her swinging fist and stepped out of the way.
Somehow, Rosette ended up flying upside down into the dirt. She landed with a grunt and gaped upward, not sure what just happened. A second later she heard footsteps and scrambled to her feet before someone could grab her, her face red.
Kate stood a few meters away, gesturing for the militia to stay back. She looked at Rosette evenly. "This battle is over," she told her.
"Like hell." Rosette charged and ended up flying again.
"Stop doing that!" she screamed.
"You leave me no choice," Kate told her. "I don't want to harm you."
"You just want me to die," Rosette snarled, scrambling to her feet.
"I never wanted that," Kate assured her, "but you must live the life God intended for you. I can't bear to see you suffer an eternity fighting that."
"Narrow-minded old-" Rosette leaped forward and swung at her, but Kate stepped out of the way and the girl nearly stumbled her knees. Her horns were an agony now and her legs were starting to feel like water. "What's happening to me?" she gasped.
"Your legions are dying," Kate told her solemnly. "You're becoming human again, praise God."
Rosette went cold. She had no life force left as a human. She'd die like this. "Chrno!" she gasped. "I need Chrno!"
"He's lost to you, child. Forget him, please."
---000---
Chrno ran down the corridor to the front of the church, frantic. Free of the cell, he could feel Rosette. He could feel her pain and he could feel her fading. He skidded to a stop on the top of the steps and stared. Rosette was laying on the ground, surrounded by militia, Sister Kate standing over her as she struggled to get to her feet.
She was dying, her legions all but depleted. He couldn't hear what Kate was saying to her, but he could imagine. Eternal life, God, all that crap he couldn't understand or believe in, denied it as he was. Desperate, he looked at Satella and she rolled her eyes before throwing her arm up, the jewel on her glove glowing.
Immediately, her jewel knight appeared above her and charged, scattering the militia in its wake. Chrno raced after it, sprinting for his lover's side as the knight swung its sword wildly, forcing the militia to retreat and immune to the weapons they normally used on demons.
Rosette lay in the eye of that chaos. Chrno skidded to his knees beside her and stared into her beautiful blue eyes. They were full of tears at the sight of him and he put a trembling hand to her cheek before looking up at Kate.
She glared at him with real hate in her eyes, her lips moving. Chrno grinned at her. "I can't hear you," he told her and pulled Rosette up in his arms. Kate's eyes widened and she moved forward to stop him, but Rosette twisted in his arms before he could do anything and kicked her. The woman dropped to her knees, both hands cupping her bloody nose. Chrno thought about making some sort of cutting remark, but settled for running for the gate. The instant he was through it, he changed to his demon form and was airborne, blasting into the sky.
---000---
"I guess that's my cue," Satella murmured and made a gesture. Immediately, her knight turned back, grabbing her up in its arms and loping in the other direction. She'd have to move, she supposed. The Order was likely to be cranky with her, but that was all right. She was getting tired of New York.
---000---
"Are you feeling better?" Chrno gasped, heaving for breath as he looked down at the equally naked woman pinned beneath him, her legs wrapped around his waist.
Rosette reached up and pulled the plugs out of his ears. "Getting there," she answered breathlessly. "Did you have to pick here for this?"
Chrno looked around at the steeple he had her pressed against. "What's wrong with the Empire State Building?"
"It's cold."
"I didn't exactly have time to look for somewhere comfortable," he pointed out and she grinned, shifting under him suggestively. He groaned.
"We really have to do something about those Oaths," she told him. "Soon."
"I know, I know." He smiled at her. "Thanks for coming to get me."
"You're welcome." She kissed his nose and frowned at him. "I'd really like it if you didn't make it necessary though."
"I'll try not to do it again."
"You do that. I can't afford Satella's rates." She looked around at their surroundings and at his barbed tail, currently imbedded in the side of the steeple to keep them from falling off. His wings were furled around them both, the closest he had to a blanket. "We've never done it like this before."
He couldn't help but grin. "Did you like it?"
"Pervert." She put a hand to his cheek. "I love you, Chrno. I just about lost my mind when I thought you were dead."
"I'd never leave you," he promised, wrapping his wings and arms around her. "Not ever."
"Good," she growled. "You're not allowed to." He smiled happily, quite content with that. "So," she asked a moment later. "Where are our clothes?"
He looked down the side of the building they were on. "Um…"
"CHRNO!"
THE END
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